Friday, 30 September 2011

Let's face it, sometimes you get a little bored of your wardrobe & when your bank account looks like a trip to the high street might be fatal, a little DIY session is exactly what you need! A few weeks ago I posted an OOTD photo on my twitter of me wearing a dip-dye top & I'd taken a few photos whilst making it so I thought I'd do a cheeky blog post running through how we made it. It all started when my friend Vicky & I decided to give the world of DIY a go as we went on a dip-dyeing frenzy! We went for the easy option & used white t-shirts (Peacocks £5 on sale) & tank tops (H&M 3.99), & chose a gorgeous purple fabric dye.

We bought the dye from Hobbycraft & it was Burlesque Red by Dylon, which only set us back £3.29 & we've still got half of the pack left for our next dip-dying adventure! We didn't exactly follow the instructions on the back of the packet (naughty), instead we just poured 3 litres of water in to a bowl & tipped in half of the packet of dye & gave it a stir. Simples! We did the whole thing in the garden, because I wouldn't trust myself to not get dye all over the carpet, & we basically just dipped the tops in to the dye up to wherever we wanted our dip-dye effect to start. I decided to flick some of the dye on to the upper half of the vest top to create a sort of splatter effect, and we left them in the dye for about two minutes. We then simply took them out & laid them out on the grass to dry.

Once they were dry we hand-washed them to get rid of any excess dye & then once we'd dried them they were ready to wear! We were surprisingly happy with the way they turned out, especially because we'd never done it before & frankly I thought our first attempt would be a disaster. I still won't wash them with any other clothes for a while because I don't want to find out just how far this luck will stretch! Here's the photo of how I styled it in the OOTD, so that you can see what one of them looks like on & two photos of my finished tops.

We had loads of fun making them, & it's just a nice way of adding something unique to your wardrobe without the hefty price tag! Have you been doing any DIY with your clothes lately?

Tuesday, 27 September 2011

Honey, I'm home! Yes, I'm back from my holiday to Egypt & like every make-up extremist I packed far too much make-up so I thought I'd do a post on what I actually ended up using. So here's my holiday face...

This is what I wore in the evenings only of course, I went completely natural in the day to avoid looking like my face was melting off. Still, I kept it very natural in the evenings too, so lets go through what products I used...

Friday, 2 September 2011

I've decided that my spending is getting a little out of control, so I took a look at my 'want list' & decided to buy some cheaper dupes/alternatives instead. Who knows, some of the cheaper alternatives might surprise me & leave me converted!

So everyone's in love with the Liz Earle cleanse & polish, and I am no exception. I've recently run out of mine, so of course a replacement went straight on my list. The Liz Earle c&p definitely isn't the most expensive cleanser, the starter kit is £13.25 (the 100ml cleanse & polish + 2 muslin cloths) & it's a little cheaper if you just buy the bottle on it's own. That may not seem like a ridiculous amount, and it's not, but No7 also does a 200ml hot cloth cleanser that comes with a muslin cloth for £9. With a £5 off no7 voucher that makes it an amazing £4, for double the amount of product as the Liz Earle, so I couldn't resist!

The two cleansers are very different in consistency, and the no7 definitely doesn't act as a dupe. It doesn't have the herbal smell of the Liz Earle one & the texture is more similar to a light cream face wash than the thick texture of the Liz Earle.

Despite their differences, the two are used in the exact same way & can both be used on the eye area. After you've applied the cleanser, you run the muslin cloth under warm water, ring out the excess and then place the cloth over your face to open up your pores. You then lightly polish off the cleanser and you're done. Though it may not be quite as good as the Liz Earle, the no7 one does its job amazingly, leaving my skin deeply cleansed and soft. It's definitely worth checking out if you're looking for a creamy hot cloth cleanser, and for £4 you can't go wrong!

The second thing on my want list was Nars sheer glow foundation which is a whopping £30. That'd definitely be something I'd have to save up for to justify, so when I heard that Bourjois does a foundation with a similar consistency, I had to check it out. The foundation many Youtubers & Bloggers have been going wild about is the Bourjois healthy mix foundation that costs around £10, & it really is a beauty!

Before I bang on about it, I thought I'd let you know that I have normal/dry skin, but I do sometimes get oily on my t-zone. I can't say how similar it is to the Nars foundation because I don't own it myself, but I am very impressed! The foundation claims to be 'radiance boosting' and give a 'perfectly glowing complexion' so it's right up my street! It has a semi-matte finish and it blends beautifully, giving a flawless yet natural finish. Also, it doesn't highlight any dry sections on my face (which I'm always worried about). It gives light/medium coverage, so it evens out your skin but you'll still need concealer for any blemishes. It has quite a runny consistency, and seems to take longer than normal to dry on the skin which can be a pain if you're in a rush. It has a lovely fruity scent, as it contains 'radiance boosting' fruits such as apricot, melon, apple and ginger, but we all know that scented foundations are renowned for their ability to make people break-out. I don't have sensitive skin & other scented foundations have been fine on me so I thought it was worth the risk. As of yet it has been perfect so no complaints from me. In case you were wondering, the scent doesn't hang around on your face, it lasts about 30 seconds and then it's gone. The foundation also claims to last 16 hours, but I rarely wear make-up for that long so haven't been able to test it out. I absolutely love the fact that it has a pump, which is a massive advantage for me because I find it more hygienic & it allows you to control the amount of product you release, meaning less waste. It also doesn't have any SPF in it so though this make seem like a disadvantage for some people, I prefer it because it means that I won't look like a ghost in photos! All in all, I'm loving this foundation so far & I definitely think it was worth the £10.

Have you found any cheaper dupes/alternatives for high-end products lately? I'd love to know what your favourite drugstore products are because for now I'm avoiding high-end brands like the plague. Fingers crossed I stick to it!